Guarantee your foreign partner

How do you arrange a guarantee for the application for a Schengen visa for the Netherlands?

You can guarantee one visa-required partner who wants to come to the Netherlands for a maximum of 90 days in a period of 180 days. You must earn at least the minimum wage.

A guarantee is necessary if your partner has insufficient income for a stay in the Netherlands (if the foreign partner has less than 55 euros to spend per day, for all days he/she stays in the Netherlands).

Guarantee for a visit to the Netherlands

There are some conditions to guarantee:

• Your income is at least equal to the minimum wage, excluding holiday pay.
• You must complete a proof of guarantee and/or private accommodation and have it legalized at your municipality.
• There does not have to be a relationship with the foreign guest for a guarantee. If you do not have enough income yourself, a family member, friend or acquaintance can also act as guarantor for your foreign partner.

What are the consequences and risks of a guarantee?

To guarantee one foreign partner the Netherlands or others Schengen countries visits has consequences and is possible involve risks. The main ones are:

• The guarantor declares to be responsible for the payment of the costs of the stay, medical care and repatriation of the foreigner.
• The guarantee applies for a period of 5 years or so much shorter than the stay of the foreign national, counting from the entry of that person into the Schengen territory, up to a maximum of € 10.000 per year, insofar as these costs would otherwise be charged of the State and/or public bodies.
• The guarantee ends when it can be adequately demonstrated that the foreigner has left the Schengen area (such as an exit stamp affixed by a Schengen state or an entry stamp affixed by an authority responsible for border control in the country of origin).

Form guarantee and/or private accommodation

The form guarantee and/or private accommodation you need to invite a partner who is subject to a visa requirement before coming to the Netherlands and to whom you wish to provide accommodation. You also need this form in case you are applying for a visa businesses want to guarantee.

Clearly indicate on the form at point 3. 'Declaration' what applies in your case: guarantee, accommodation or both. You must take the completed form to the municipality for legalization of your signature. NB! In case of a guarantee, the signature of your partner must also be legalized at the municipality. There are costs associated with legalizing your signature by the municipality.

When you use the form for the arrival of a partner who visa-free then you do not have to go to the municipality for legalization.

How can you guarantee?

You can guarantee your partner by taking a few steps:

• You fill in the proof of guarantee and/or private accommodation form. This is possible online at various municipalities.
• Let us legalize the signature on the form at your municipality. The warranty is valid for 3 months.
• Send the form proof of sponsorship and/or private accommodation and other documents to your partner abroad.
• Your partner can use the legalized form, together with other documents, to apply for a visa at the Dutch embassy (or consulate) abroad.
• Does your partner not need a visa? Then he or she must bring the documents to show during border control.

Additional documents guarantee

In addition to the form, you must also collect the following documents. You send this to your foreign partner who wants to travel to the Netherlands.

Guarantee and employed:

• A copy of your employment contract (this must continue for at least 12 months from the time of the visa application).
• A copy of your last 3 pay slips.

Guarantee and entrepreneur:

• A recent extract from the registration with the Chamber of Commerce.
• Your most recent final income tax assessment.
• A recent profit and loss statement, showing your net profit.

Do you have any questions about the warranty? Then please contact the IND.

Medical travel insurance important for guarantee

An important condition for obtaining a Schengen visa is a medical travel insurance. When applying for a visa, one must be able to demonstrate that travel insurance has been taken out. The following conditions apply to this travel insurance:

• The validity of this travel insurance must be equal to the visa period.
• The travel insurance must be valid in all Schengen countries.
• The travel insurance must cover the costs of repatriation.
• The travel insurance must cover medical costs for a minimum of € 30.000.

For the (financial) protection of the guarantor, a medical travel insurance important. After all, you run a financial risk because of the guarantee. The travel insurance is therefore perhaps more important for you than for your foreign guest.

It may be possible for your partner to take out travel insurance in the country of origin. We do not recommend this for a number of important reasons. When you take out travel insurance for foreigners in the Netherlands, you fall under Dutch law and you can seek redress from a Dutch insurer. That becomes a lot more difficult when the insurer is located in a far exotic country. It happens that a foreign insurer does not give a home with a high hospital bill. The chance that you will still be compensated is small because you then have to litigate with an insurer abroad, which entails high costs.

You can read more information about taking out an approved Dutch medical travel insurance policy for your partner here: Medical travel insurance

Related links:

• Medical insurance foreign partner
• What is guaranteeing a visa?
• Requirements to guarantee visitors from abroad
• Why is travel insurance important for a visa guarantee?
• Guarantee